Spotlight on… Richard Newton

Tell us a bit about your career and what brought you to CheckFire?

I have worked in management at team and operations level for the past several years. After some time in customer services and financial sectors, I decided I wanted a career change that would offer a better work-life balance.

What is your role at CheckFire and which service do you provide?

My role is client support specialist. I handle CheckFire and Fire Seals Direct calls and emails, which usually involves processing orders, enquiries, and offering customer support.

Talk us through a typical day in your role.

Normally, this involves prioritising calls and emails, ensuring customers’ requests are handled in a timely manner. This can get extremely busy during the afternoon when all orders are processed for the warehouse staff to catch the last transport collections.

Which fire safety professionals do you regularly support?

As a team, we will handle a variety of customers, ranging from engineers to end-users.

What advice would you give to landlords, property owners or business owners when it comes to ensuring the right fire safety measures are in place?

Always check with your building and fire officers if completing new or renovating work to ensure the correct equipment is installed and not to cut corners in this area as lives are potentially on the line.

What has been your most memorable moment with CheckFire?

This is probably our most recent night out last week which was great fun to see the team out of work and letting our hair down.

Why is your job so satisfying?

Honestly, it is the people I work with. We have a support team that helps me with purchasing, stock and prices. It’s a team that really cares about our people, customers and getting the job done right.

In which direction do you think the fire safety industry is headed?

I can see regulation becoming stricter and this should see Fire Seals Direct continue to grow. I also feel that environmental concerns will also have a larger impact upon trade and business as we go through 2022.